Day Six: Eating corn dogs in the Land of Lincoln

Brent and I stayed at the State House Inn in downtown Springfield after our awesome day in St. Louis.  The trusty iPhone helped narrow down the choices and I picked the State House Inn based on reviews.  It had recently been remodeled and had a retro decor theme.  It was a good thing that we were too tired to really be picky about the hotel room that night. We slept and it worked but were both glad it was only one night.  The shower was a trickle of water and the bed was about a foot off the ground.

We decided to use the $3 historic sites bus rather than drive from place to place.  We waited outside the Inn and eventually hitched a ride to the Lincoln Museum and Library.  We got there at about 9:30 and after hanging out with the Lincoln's went into the introductory show.  I say show because it was part theatre and part video special effects.  It was AWESOME! In a nut shell, the archivist dressed in 1860s garb explains the importance of documents and objects in the museum and archive.  He explains how they are a link to the past and help historians to tell the American story.  It's impossible to explain his interaction with special effects part but it was incredible.  That alone was worth the 1200-ish miles drive.  It was THAT cool.  It made my little archivist heart squee. They'd captured why archivist do what they do.

After that show we wandered through an exhibit that had random items from Lincoln's presidency... white gloves stained with blood from that fateful Goof Friday night, photos of Tad Lincoln, voodoo dolls of Lincoln...so many awesome things.  It was very dark in there.  It was the darkest and coldest museum we'd visited.  This also warmed my archivist heart!

Brent and I kind of went through the museum in the wrong order.  We started with the White House years of Lincoln rather than his childhood and Springfield days.  We entered through the front doors of the White House and wound our way through Lincoln's tumultuous welcome to Washington D.C. and his reasoning to writing and releasing the Emancipation Proclamation.  Some exhibits covered the Civil War, one of which was THE coolest look at the progress of war and the rise of causalities.  It was a four minute moving map of battles that had a constant status of what cities were blue and which were gray.  It was yet another awesome thing that is hard to explain.  Just another reason to visit yourself!!

There was also a "funeral" of Lincoln.  The replica funeral of Lincoln's coffin laying in state, I think at the Illinois State House after his train ride back to Springfield.  It was dark and gloomy and a perfect way to show the tragic ending to a president's life.

From there we moved on to a 4D show - huge screens, canons bursting, smoke flowing through the theatre, and our seats rumbling.  It was more or less a biography of Lincoln show that explained his humble beginnings, self-learning, and drive to make politics a career.  It was great!!

When that show let out we went through Lincoln's cabin and worked our way through the exhibits of his childhood, early Springfield days, and entrance into politics.  Scattered throughout the exhibits were lifelike models of Lincoln at different stages of his life.  It was really neat to see how the museum mixed in the objects with the replicas.  It was just so well done!  And never once did I have to think how something related to Lincoln or why it was placed in a certain area.

Brent and I ate lunch in the museum cafe, which was a Subway.  Then we shopped.  We each bought clearanced hoodies because we were so cold.  Then we went to the last show of the day.  It was a play that looked at the day of Lincoln's assassination with the benefit of hindsight.  It was GREAT!!  It reminded me a lot of Manhunt: The 12 Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer.

The last show ended with enough time for us to catch the once an hour bus out front and head towards Lincoln's Tomb.  Now, I know you're probably wondering, what no pictures??!!! No pictures! The Lincoln Museum was the ONLY museum that did not allow any type of photography.  Most allowed flash-free photography but this one was NO photography.  That made me sad because it is such an awesome museum and there is just so much that cannot be described to do the museum justice.

This was the only place inside the museum we could really take pictures.  I got a few snapped before the bus came...

I mentioned the sweatshirts... (Brent's first time on a city bus)

We made it to Lincoln's Tomb and rubbed Lincoln's nose for good luck.  It's a thing...not sure where it started but I sure wasn't going to risk the wrath of the thing from high atop the thing for not doing it.

After the Lincoln Tomb we headed back to the hotel and grabbed the car and stopped at the Lincoln Home run by the National Park Service.  We got there just in time for the last tour of the day.  We had a very enthusiastic tour guide!

To replenish our energy after a fun filled day of Lincoln, we headed towards the Historic Route 66 to the Cozy Dog In.  The diner is known as the home of the corn dog.  And I can see why!  Best corn dogs ever!  The walls were decorated with license plates and Route 66 signage.  I was a little bummed to find out that the diner we ate at was not the original.  The original was knocked down many moons ago and replaced with this one a couple dozen feet away from the original.  It was still good foot.  And a nice slice of 1950s Americana.

   

   

Content with our cozy dog dinner we hit the road.  Route 66 had multiple routes through Springfield so we spent a little bit of time on it as we left the town.  We jammed out to oldies as the landscape became more rural with the setting sun.  Another great day of museum sight seeing left us content and with plenty to gab about while on the road.

After a few hours of driving we made it to Molene, IL for the night.  We had reached the homestretch with most of the vacation excitement behind us.  I said most.  We got to play with sleep number beds that night.  That was exciting.  I slept great.  I'm a 15.  Brent didn't.  He must not have found his sleep number.  :-)